Dr Mary J. Safford
(1834-1891)

Died aged c. 57

Dr. Mary J. Safford, the first practicing woman physician in Florida, was born in 1834 and was a native of Cairo, Illinois. She served as a nurse during the Civil War, where wounded called her "the Cairo Angel." After the war she studied medicine in New York and Europe. Safford established a practice in Chicago and New England, and taught at the Boston University College of Medicine. Health problems prompted her to relocate to Tarpon Springs where her brother, Anson P. K. Safford, was a leader in developing and promoting the city. Dr. Safford treated patients in Tarpon Springs until her death, December 8, 1891.

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Mary Jane Safford-Blake (December 31, 1834 – December 8, 1891) was a nurse, physician, educator, and humanitarian. As a nurse in the Union army she worked closely with Mary Ann Bickerdyke treating the sick and injured near Fort Donelson, and was nicknamed the "Cairo Angel" for her service in Cairo, Illinois. After the war she became one of the first female gynecologists in the United States and was the first woman to perform an ovariotomy. She later taught at Boston University, and was one of the first women elected to the Boston School Committee.

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